The 7 Most Common Ways to Screw Up Your Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies might be the first thing you ever baked—scoops from a tub of cookie dough, dropped straight onto your baking sheet. Though those drop-and-bake cookies are great in a pinch (this writer’s mother keeps a tub in the fridge at all times), it’s time to put on your big boy-or-girl chef’s pants and make some from scratch. But there are some mistakes you have to watch out for—this is baking, after all. We talked to senior associate food editor (and dessert superstar) Alison Roman about the ways in which people mess up their cookies and how to avoid messing up your own.

1. My Butter and Sugar Are Combined…I Can Stop Beating, Right?
Wrong. “If you don’t cream your butter and sugar long enough, your cookies won’t be light and fluffy—they’ll be flat,” says Roman. She recommends beating those suckers for at least 3-5 minutes. The same goes for your eggs. Just beat it. And make sure you use an electric mixer, “because why make it harder for yourself?”

2. It’s Fine if Some Ingredients Are Left on the Side of the Bowl
The bowl scrape is important for evenly mixing your ingredients, says Roman. If you don’t, you’ll get pockets of flour and pockets of egg, sugar, and butter. “That will cause some cookies to flatten out like pancakes and others to look like biscuits,” she explains. So embrace the scrape! Just don’t over mix—that’ll make your cookies dense. Mix until the flour is just incorporated.

3. I’m Going to Use Chocolate Chips, Duh!
We hate to break it to you, but most chocolate chips don’t have just chocolate in them. “Often times, chocolate chips are a little waxy because they have other ingredients like vanilla and soy in them,” says Roman. “I like to chop high-quality chocolate bars into chunks.” The flavor and texture of chocolate chunks are superior; just make sure to sift your chunks to get rid of all that chocolate “dust” that comes from chopping. Otherwise, those shavings will get into your dough and create a chocolate swirl—which, let’s be honest, isn’t the worst thing ever if you decide to leave them.

4. Ew, Why Would I Put Salt in My Cookies?
“Chocolate and salt are best friends,” says Roman. Like most things, a little kosher salt brings out all the sweet flavors in your cookies. Roman even likes to sprinkle a little sea salt on top.

5. When It’s Time to Bake, Put Your Cookies Right on Your Baking Sheet
Roman doesn’t like to bake anything directly on a sheet pan, unless she’s making pizza. Line your pan with parchment paper—your cookies won’t stick and it will help them bake a bit more evenly. It also makes for a breezy, easy cleanup.

6. All Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes Are Created EqualJust like with brownies, everyone has a different idea of what the perfect cookie should be. It’s important to choose the right recipe. Do you want them crunchy and buttery, like Tate’s? Or do you want more of a Toll House gooey cookie? Roman’s ideal cookie is somewhere in the middle. “The edges should be brown, but the top should be puffy, making for a crispy outside and a gooey inside.” However, don’t assume that the cookie’s consistency is just a question of its bake time—pick your recipe and stick to it.

7. The More Cookies, the Better
Don’t overcrowd your sheet pan with cookie dough—otherwise, you’ll have a cookie cake. While most people will still eat said cookie cake, you set out to make even, separate cookies. Bake a test cookie to see how much your dough will spread after it hits the oven, then space out the rest of your cookies accordingly. And make sure to eat that test cookie while the others bake.